Interested in JA: BIA. Need opinions.

[dayraid]

Originally Posted by HSSDamian

In JA: BIA, you can only enter a few sectors (towns and key locations), rather than every single inch of the map like in JA: 2.

This is not correct. Walk your merc to the edge of the current sector in the direction you want to travel. Enter into the world map. Move your merc further from that position for 1-2 minutes of game time, and then press "enter location". You are now in the new sector.

In fact this is the method people used to travel from one part of the map to another quickly in a fraction of the normal time.

[BigityBalzworth]

well, this game lacks some of the things that made the other JA's great, but that's not what you asked about. and, honestly, for all the things that are missing, there are some seriously great additions to the series as well. as a standalone game this game has many things going for it. there are some really good gameplay elements that are very fun and a little addicting. as a professionally produced game, the execution is pretty poor, though. it feels like a beta version. it is still a little buggy, and things still fail to work properly. it will drive you crazy at times. it also makes you do chores at times that are the opposite fun like running around after every battle and clicking on about 100 items one at a time so you can see what items are available. a good 15 minute click-fest. but the overall concept is excellent. and i am enjoying it very much. i would definitely recommend playing it, especially its on sale!!!

[Coastal0]

Originally Posted by HSSDamian

I'm from JA2, so I have a very biased opinion, just pointing that out first.
Compared to JA2, JA: BIA has no weapons. About 20ish?

JA2 had over 300 guns and over 20 different pieces of armor, along with many many other items and over 40 weapon modifications, each gun had it's real life ammo counterpart which also came in different varieties (e.g. 7.62x39mm standard clips, hollow point, armor penetration, explosive rounds, etc, and all 300 guns used their real life ammo). Weapon modding was in-depth also, and it gave a much larger feel of freedom (you could interact with pretty much everything) and if you decided to buy a mortar, rocket launcher or even grenades, you could destroy whatever part of a building (or the entire building) you wanted to. Also, mercenaries were hired for a set amount of days (select 1/3/7/14) and you could extend their contracts (anytime), make them interact with eachother and civilians, TRAIN THEIR SKILLS (medical, marksman, etc), train/up their stats (strength, dexterity, etc), mercenaries gained skills and stats depending on the things you did as well.

JA: BIA has NONE of that good stuff. The only good thing about BIA, IMO, is the improved combat, but even that is lacking in some areas compared to what JA: 2 had. There was also the fact that you could go and explore the entire continent. In JA: BIA, you can only enter a few sectors (towns and key locations), rather than every single inch of the map like in JA: 2.

Ah, almost forgot voice acting. JA: BIA has HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE failed voiceovers of the old characters from JA: 2.

My opinion, buy JA2 Gold from Steam and download the v1.03 mod-patch, so much better.

G'day Folks,

Sorry to contradict your last point but: DON'T STEAM IT. The Steam edition of JA2 Gold has an infinite money bug, where your cash is permanently at $10k. Great, until you need more and it doesn't increase.

Otherwise I fully agree with everything else you've said.

[dayraid]

Originally Posted by BigityBalzworth

it is still a little buggy, and things still fail to work properly. it will drive you crazy at times.

For example, in some locations, especially towns and cities (San Mona is a good example), the system is very sluggish. Even for selecting a merc from a squad, you have to hit his portrait a number of times before you get a response.

Another example is that if you place the mercs too close to each other, they would start dancing/jumping/jerking around each other (the same is true if the enemies are too close to each other).

[Krasny]

It's my favorite game in the genre.

I don't really understand the hostile notices the game got.

Admittedly I have only being playing the game for a week, so it could have been really rough on launch, but the game I've played is really absorbing.

[Burntvet]

Originally Posted by Krasny

It's my favorite game in the genre.

I don't really understand the hostile notices the game got.

Admittedly I have only being playing the game for a week, so it could have been really rough on launch, but the game I've played is really absorbing.

I do understand, and I agree with the 62 or so composite score BIA got on meta critic.

While this game is MUCH better than at launch (and what a POS it was) it is still nothing special and not worth the full price or even most of the full price. It is just so sloppy in a alot of areas and they still want $30-$40 for it?


Worth maybe $10, and I would hold off on buying until the Steam summer sale which is coming up.

[Pheace]

Originally Posted by Burntvet

(and what a POS it was)

Absolute nonsense, but then you probably know that already.

[Burntvet]

Originally Posted by Pheace

Absolute nonsense, but then you probably know that already.

Please....

It was a tedious and unfun slog, with extremely limited options as to what mercs you could hire and there are/were plenty of bugs and shortcomings that need not be mentioned here...

Some people got a lot of CTDs and black screens after a couple of the early patches and I was one of them...

And then things like the lack of sector inventory and uselessness of militia (which were a key point in the design of this game) only recently fixed/improved. Still a lot of things missing, imo.

So, while the game was recently made more playable by fixing all that stuff, it was not and is not worth the $30-$40 price they want for it, let alone the ripoff DLCs.


This game did not get a 62 composite score on metacritic by accident.